The Vessels
by FallingInStereo
Summary: When the remainder of RWBY tries to find someone neutral to investigate the motivation and truth behind Yang's attack on Mercury, they end up bringing back a long-dead project: Two men are forced to face their past when they come across other guests at Beacon during the Vytal Festival
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This story is another OC thing because I love messing with this universe. If you were around during the "Team BYRN" thing from last year, then you already know two of these characters, being rehashed to more closely resemble how they are in my original works. I want to be able to keep this short: A story about a few people finding purpose. This is technically an AU, as I probably won't use any story details beyond episode 7 of season 3, or at least I'll fudge some details.**

 **/**

"They told us they could fix us…"

 _"Help us…"_

"Did they?"

"No."

"It was worse."

 _"They twisted us."_

"That's terrible."

"They lied."

 _"And we'll be sure to make it known…"_

"One day…"

/

"Who is that?" Ruby marvels at the display of fighting in the ring at the center of the dilapidated coliseum. After seeing no one outside of their group believe them, it only made sense for them to try something drastic: Find a neutral investigator to give his opinion, and maybe prove that Yang is innocent.

"The fighter is exceptional," Blake remarks, following the leather-clad black mass on the floor of the coliseum as he weaves around the Grimm. He seems like water, moving in a fluid motion between targets and slowly causing each one to fall. From what they saw during his introduction, he couldn't have been much older than they were. Unsaid was the fact that he seemed like a possible candidate for their objective.

"Hey, he's kinda like you, Ren," Jaune points out, having a separate conversation on the opposite side of the stands. "All that flow of battle ninja stuff."

"Ooh yeah, maybe he can make pancakes, too!" Nora suggests, holding her closed hands near her face in anticipation of the concept.

"He looks like someone we should try to talk to," Pyrhha offers. "He's certainly more…friendly than the patrons here." The Champion pauses on her words as the fighter below literally whoops in elation as a boarbatusk putts him straight up into the air. On the way down, his momentum changes into a corkscrew as he descends, slamming both feet into the offender with such force as to cause its belly to flatten against the ground. Then, he leaps off and is on to the next Grimm. Grimm: Creatures meant to attack and destroy humanity, being captured and caged by the Pit, and agitated into being even more aggressive, and sent into gladiatorial combat. Horrendous.

After the fight, the fighter below waves almost nonchalantly to the crowd before disappearing into the reopened gate near the back of the arena. Teams JNPR and RWBY make moves to follow.

/

"You look like you were having fun," a man with dirty-blonde hair, grown somewhat long and loosely swept back, kicks off the wall before turning to the black-clad fighter.

"Oh, I was," he chuckles, dusting off his jacket and running his hand through his wild and spiky black hair. "I mean, there's not much else to do here, eh?"

"Sure, sure. Sometimes I think that we should stop hiding out here, though."

"Yeah…eventually we will. We just have to wait for a good opportunity."

"I know," the blonde adjusts his long coat before turning to leave. "I'm gonna go get dinner for us. Don't get into any trouble without me."

"Sure," the brunette waves him off. After a few idle minutes of laying down on his bed, flipping a dark-grey metal disk into the air and catching it repeatedly, someone knocks on the door. He stands up quickly enough for someone whose downtime was interrupted. When he opens the door, three women with large cloaks on greet his eyes. "Oh…hi?"

"Hi!" the shortest of the intruders perks up. He catches the faintest glimpse of silver eyes and short red-tipped air. "Your fight was amazing! I don't know of many people who can fight off the Grimm without a weapon."

"Thanks," the fighter drags out the word, one brow raised. He tucks the disk in his palm up his sleeve, concealing it from the people before him.

"Can we come in?" the tallest, a brunette, inquires. There's a pause.

"Jade, start the hot water. We have guests…or something," the fighter waves his hand through the air in a "whatever" fashion as he talks to a non-visible "Jade," leaving the door open as he returns to the cot on the far side of the room. "So, what do you want?" He doesn't look any of them in the eye as he swipes a piece of bread from the coffee table and takes a bite.

"We're on a mission here, actually, and we'd like your help. But you can't tell anyone," the silver-eyed one starts, removing her hood to expose the rest of her pale visage.

"Mission…Huntresses. Too young to be graduated. Students?" the fighter runs through these halting phrases before directing his inquiry to the silver-eyed girl.

"Yeah," she shuffles her feet.

"Well, that's always a fun time. The last time I ever saw an actual Huntress she tried to yell at me for taking on an entire bar on my own. I mean, it's just one bar, it's not that difficult," the fighter rolls his eyes in an exasperated manner. The shortest of the girls seems to take well to this sentiment, although a brush of familiarity runs through the gleam in her eyee. It's now that the fighter's own eyes rove over the three guests inside of his living space. A scrutinizing gaze lands on the brunette of the quartet before the kettle in the adjacent room starts to whistle. "Ah, that." He disappears into said room for a few minutes before the whistling stops. He returns with five mugs on a tray, with bags of tea or the smell of coffee coming out of each.

"Coffee for me, _decaf_ for Red, black tea for the brunette, and whatever fancy green something for whitey," the fighter passes the apparently customized drinks around to the four of them before gesturing for them to sit, moving himself from the cot to the floor-level table in the center of the room.

"Someone's observant," the one with the white hair remarks, taking a cautious sip of the beverage before a quick flash of a look of approval dawns on her face.

"It pays to be. So…what do a bunch of Huntresses in training want with me?" the fighter almost one-shots his coffee, despite the scalding temperature of it.

"We're…here because we're looking for someone," the brunette speaks up. "And you seemed like the closest thing to a friendly face in that crowd."

"Probably," the fighter shrugs. "Corviz Inoshi." He extends his hand across the table, shaking hands and receiving names in return for each.

"Ruby Rose."

"Weiss Schnee."

"Blake Belladonna." The fighter pauses at the last one before returning to his original position.

"So, you said you were looking for someone?" Corviz inquires.

"An investigator. Rumor has it that he's hiding in The Pit, so we're here."

"Underground investigator guy?"

"About your age. Tall. Black hair. Purple eyes," Blake describes. Corviz pauses, recognition lighting up his features.

"I know him."

"You do?" Ruby puts her hands on the table in anticipation.

"Roommates. Partners in getting screwed over by the government."

"That's…great?" Weiss remarks.

"So you can get him? We need him to look into this thing that happened to our friend at Beacon."

"The Pit doesn't let its fighters go so simply."

"Then we'll sneak out."

"Nah. I'll have to destroy it all so that the whole organization doesn't follow."

"Can you?"

"Duh. Three entries into Beacon. The Pit falls with the sun. The investigator comes with us." The tone of the room shifts quickly. Pressure. The quick shift in Corviz's attitude catches them by surprise.

"Um…three?" Ruby questions aloud.

"I have friends here, believe it or not. Besides them, I care little about this place. I'll leave it with few qualms." A pause again as the group processes the fighter's words. "So, do we have a deal, oh fair Students of Beacon?" Corviz spreads his hands out.

"We'll have to call the Headmaster to ask," Weiss delays.

"Then do so. There's no service in here, so do it outside. And…send your friends waiting by the door in on your way out."

"What?" Weiss turns and glances at the closed door behind them.

"Perception. I have it," Corviz gets to his feet. "Only a fool would send a mere three students to infiltrate an organization as large as The Pit."

"And yet you say you can destroy it by nightfall," Weiss remarks as they all stand.

"I've been planning it for over a year. I've always wanted to see a big building go boom."

/

"Kardinn, this is great for us! You, me, and Jade, in Beacon of all places. The opportunities!" Corviz pleads with the blonde. "Plus, there's a job for you there."

"A job?" Kardinn brushes his hair back.

"Some problem at Beacon. Underground mission from the female trio to help their friend," Corviz waves his hand in a circle to indicate his lack of true knowledge of the subject. "And we get to say goodbye to the Pit. And it goes boom. And we'll have asylum."

"If you say so. It's better than here, surely."

"It's a licensed school, of course it's better. So, you in?"

"Yes."

"Then go to the cages and prepare. It's time to show these assholes what we can really do."

/

"That was fun. So, how are we getting back to Beacon?" Corviz jogs up to the ten students, somewhat out of breath. In the background, the series of explosions and screams emanating from the Pit can still be heard as the flames spread and the black smoke fumes. From what the Beacon students could see, a charge of some black substance had started the destruction by flooding the coliseum before a pillar of flame descended on the coliseum. To say that mouths were agape would be an understatement.

"We...call a Bullhead to pick us up," Weiss articulates. "You weren't joking about the 'fall with the sun' thing."

"I had this planned for quite a while. By the way, meet your investigator man," Corviz gestures to his apparent single companion.

"Kardinn Mahdok," he tilts his head towards the group, shaking hands with each of the team leaders.

"Is he really? He doesn't match the description much at all," Jaune points out.

"And I could say that you don't match the description of a student of Beacon. Or…a legitimate one," Kardinn nonchalantly counters. The whole group seems taken aback. Jaune's fake transcripts were known among them, but for someone to find out so fast, with no prior detail, was astounding.

"How did you…?"

"Do not underestimate me," he shrugs. Jaune's scroll goes off, indicating the Bullhead's proximity to them.

"Let's go then," Jaune jerks his head towards the predetermined landing site of the airship.

/

"You will be asked to prove yourself, like any other student in this school," Ozpin explains to the supposed "three" in front of him. "Students here gain acceptance into Beacon like any regular application, but they also participate in an Initiation in the beginning of the year. Normally, this is done to help the students form the standard Hunters' team of four, but you already have a team in each other, so I think pitting you against existing students in a tournament-style match would be the best indicator of your skill."

"Makes sense," Kardinn agrees.

"Let's do it," Corviz shrugs.

"Very well then. May I have your names for the scoreboard tomorrow?"

"Kardinn Mahdok."

"Corviz Inoshi. The third's name is Jade Imahara. She'll make her presence known in the field tomorrow."

"Alright. Prove to me that a team of you three is as good as a team of four, and you will be known as Team KII from now on." Behind him, the holographic computer screen flashes, delivering each of their portraits in the assigned order to match their team name.

/

 **A/N End Chapter 1. In context, The Pit in my original works is technically a secondary part of the government in a desert nation. In the Team BYRN thing, The Pit was something that needed to be investigated, which eventually became the source of mental insanity for Corviz. Here, it's more a starting exposition. If this were to be a long thing I would've started off with Corviz and Kardinn's backstory, arriving at The Pit, and struggling there for a long time before the Beacon teams appeared as their sort of savior. But no, this is going to be shorter, hopefully.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Chapter two! Fight!**

/

"Do you know the story of the semblances of Origin?"

"Powerful, dark, capable of doing things not conventionally possible, even by Auratic standards."

"The Guardian of the Grave, the Devourer of Shadows, the Bearer of Life, and the Star of Night."

"Yes, those."

"He tried to recreate them. He never knew it until recently, but: He succeeded."

"He did?"

"I'll show you."

/

"And now, a special treat on behalf of Beacon," Doctor Oobleck announces, following the end of the most recent duel.

"Three prospective transfers to Beacon are in the arena below, prepared to pit themselves against the mightiest of foes and prove themselves worthy of the title of Beacon student," Professor Port declares. "Kardinn Mahdok, Corviz Inoshi, and Jade Imahara will form Team KII if they pass Headmaster Ozpin's judgment." After the initial confusion over such an unprecedented event, cheers erupt at the prospect of another fight.

"The decided method of initiation for this trio is an exposition match, between them and one of Beacon's own upstart first-year teams: Team Juniper!" Oobleck emphatically declares, his voice rising with the energy in the stadium as Teams KII and JNPR enter the arena, temporarily reconstructed to have the four terrain areas. Kardinn and Jaune shake hands in the middle before returning to their places. It's no surprise that everyone is confused as Kardinn returns to what appears to be only a single other fighter. Yet, the third Auratic measurement bar on the scoreboard displays a third member of their team. Tagged only by the name Jade Imahara.

The lights flash, determining the terrain for the match: A mountain, a forest, a volcanic zone, and a water zone. The timer ticks down. Corviz hands a silver disk with a red core to Kardinn.

"When you get that onto the redhead's weapon, tell me." He nods. When the timer hits zero, both Kardinn and Corviz dash to the side, disappearing from view.

"Wha—? Ren, Nora, clear the forest. Pyrhha and I will check the volcanic zone," Jaune quickly orders, his partner following him as he enters the quadrant of immense heat.

"Woohoo!" Nora flies above the woods by the power of her hammer, converting it into its grenade-launcher form before explosives rain on the canopy. As she descends, she turns Magnihild back into a hammer and fires into the air, forcing her downward momentum to increase. As she approaches the scorched forest, she sees him. Corviz leaps into view, jumping up and grabbing a sideways branch and swinging around it twice before launching himself straight up to meet Nora halfway, spinning in a corkscrew so that his feet collide with maximum power.

When they collide, hammer to feet, the combined powers send both of them careening into the forest, disoriented.

"Well, this is fun," Kardinn backpedals from an aggressive assault from Pyrhha, using her shield as a second weapon to hard-press a swift attack combination. He manages to finally gain enough footing to truly jump away, giving himself the space to actually draw his weapon. A three-foot straightsword is produced from his back, with half of a gear surrounding the handle to create a handguard. Strangely enough, the back half of the base of the blade is actually another handle, rather than the serrated edge that many other swords had adopted.

"And this is more fun," the investigator flourishes his weapon before charging back into combat.

Corviz manages to go toe-to-toe with Ren with some difficulty, dragging his own body along to be able to match the speed and ferocity of his opponent. Their similar fighting styles, combining a series of kicks and flips along with well-placed punches, makes it difficult to gain a bearing on who's winning or losing. Corviz, however, seems looser in his style, ambling away from attacks and almost always continuing his momentum to add more power to his own. Whenever they separate for even a moment, Corviz ends up flipping away from the aerial assault Nora delivers. After a while, the two get warmed up, and begin to be able to combat him at the same time.

Nora strikes quickly with her hammer-stance combos, usually delivering an explosion-enhanced hit to knock him back before Ren slips in and gets his jabs in before they switch off again. At this point, Corviz's motions seem strange and disconnected, like someone else is moving his body. When he over-extends and it looks like his foot is about to be mangled, it suddenly twists, turning his motion into a spin that avoids the oncoming hammer and wails the offender in the side. Corviz takes the reprieve to deliver as swift as an assault as he can get on the hammer-wielder before backing way off.

He pauses, standing still and calm and crossing his wrists in front of him. As he breathes in, red aura flares around him, before receding and fading back into his skin. He flicks his wrists, and a knife appears in his hand. It's dark red, with a reversed but still moderately-aligned blade. In his other hand appears another silver disk. The fighter lunges back into combat.

Kardinn kicks off of Jaune's shield and flips in the air before bringing his blade down upon Pyrhha on the opposite side. She blocks it with he own shield, and Kardinn swings his blade behind him to block a swipe from Jaune. Rather than twist his wrist to get the blade oriented correctly, the blade swings along the line of the gear-handguard, turning itself into a reverse grip. He ducks past Pyrhha's spear, flipping his free hand up and placing the red disk on the side of the weapon's body while he turns his momentum into a horizontal spin that disengages his blade from Jaune's and forces Pyrhha to react to it coming back to meet her in the face.

"Corviz! Now!" Kardinn shouts. Before long, an almost-fleeing Corviz flies through the canopy of the opposite terrain, flames trailing out of his feet.

"Jade, you know what to do once we're in range," Corviz mumbles to himself as he descends upon Pyrhha. The flames erupt around his arms now as he orients his body for a landing and rears his hands back. Both Pyrhha and Jaune back away from the imminent collision, but the explosion and the flames lick at them after the landing as it kicks up tons of rock and ash. The actual ground seems to warm in Corviz's presence. As Pyrhha tries to convert her weapon to its rifle form and start firing into the clearing smoke, since she can barely make out the outlines of her opponents, the weapon malfunctions. It starts to jam before shaking and its major mechanisms fall apart in her hands. When the smoke clears, Corviz has his hand outstretched to Pyrhha, a smirk on his face.

The silver disk that had been placed on the rifle suddenly jitters before leaping through the air and slipping right up the fighter's sleeve.

"Oh ho, it seems that Corviz has more than one trick up his sleeve," Port remarks, ecstatic. Nora and Ren appear around the bend, forcing Corviz and Kardinn to give themselves more distance to avoid the assault.

"Paint it black," the brunette requests of Kardinn. The blonde nods, and immediately, the entire arena is shrouded in darkness. A few gasps of surprise emanate in the crowd, but especially of one General Ironwood.

"General?" a member of the security detail dares to speak up.

"It's nothing," he utters back.

"What an interesting turn of events! Mister Mahdok seems to have shrouded vision of the entire arena. Luckily we can switch to thermal imaging in order to continue watching this match unfold," Oobleck's words precede the cameras simultaneously blinking off and then back on in a strange rainbow of blues and greens pockmarked by yellows and reds. Especially a singular humanoid shape in the center of the volcanic quadrant of the arena, seemingly glowing ever-brighter by the thermal camera's perception as the area around them cools quickly.

"How long is that going to last?" Kardinn gestures to Corviz, who is cross-legged on the ground and breathing in deeply, mouth agape as it takes in the heat of the entire sector.

"Another twenty seconds, if you can," Jade's voice wafts past the blonde's ear.

"Fun," he turns outward, ready to face his opponents in the mist of his own design. "I'm guessing you're not helping."

"Corviz will let me truly fight this when it becomes necessary," she assures. "To your left."

"I see him," Kardinn nods, not actually looking to the left as he flourishes his blade and parries the double-bladed strike of a man in a green tailcoat. The two new opponents fight, with Kardinn changing the forms of his blade in order to get faster swings as his arms manipulate the weapon in his hand. A gunshot. Kardinn waves his hand, and the well-aimed shot from Pyrhha barely slides past the man's hair.

"He's done," Jade informs. Kardinn pulls the shadowy fog back into his body just in time to see what he already could sense coming: The descending other three members of the enemy team, with a flying hammer maiden and two charging warriors moving to back up the slowly-losing ninja.

"Shit," Kardinn takes a large step back and manipulates his weapon again, revealing its full form. The thick blade of his sword splits in two, with one thinner blade now on the left half of the weapon and one thinner blade on the right, and right one rotates downwards into the reverse grip, leaving Kardinn with a double-sided sword-staff. Parry. Block. Throw. He lets go of the main handle, swinging the sword-staff by the handle on one half's back-edge handle so that it pushes Pyrhha back and gives him the leverage to take a breather as a massive wall of flame engulfs her.

"Who wants to play?" Corviz, from the side, smirks, flipping his knife in the air. His mouth emanates the same flames he's absorbed. Jaune raises his shield and approaches cautiously, the metal capable of deflecting most of the flames that Corviz pours from his hand.

"Nora, Pyrhha, take Kardinn," Jaune orders, taking a reprieve from Corviz's flames in order to charge, rearing his sword back as Ren leaps into the air to join him against the knife-fighter.

"Oh come on," Kardinn hefts his sword-staff, and the right half of the gear-hilt rotates down to join its corresponding blade. With the hilt turned into a full circle, the handle seems to detach, now rotating freely within. The helicopter-style blade-staff starts to spin quickly, blocking Pyrhha's gunfire as he charges Nora.

With a six-foot spinning sword, he's able to simultaneously fend off Pyrhha and stay with Nora's own ferocity. Corviz dives away from a combination strike between Ren and Jaune, rolling to his feet with a disk in each hand.

"Jade, seek," and with that he throws them like miniature Frisbees off to the side. While confused, the knight and the martial artist enter the fray again, doing their best to follow the appearance of his Aura as it tugs in whichever direction the fighter plans to go. After Corviz runs his knife across Jaune's arm as he slips past him, he detonates some of his fire energy point-blank, causing both Jaune and Ren to back off. Just as they start to recover, the disks return, slamming into their chests and erupting into more flames. Ren only took a glancing blow, having seen it out of the corner of his eye, but his Aura still dips into the red.

Jaune stands, hefting his sword to face…nothing, as Corviz chases after the mobile brawl between Kardinn and Nora and Pyrhha.

"Jade, I think it's time you show yourself," the fighter mumbles to seemingly no one. As he jumps over a portion of the mountain quadrant and descends upon the brawl, he flips backwards once. In that time, his red Aura seems to separate from his body, creating the appearance of a girl his age beside him, with long sweeping bangs and waist-length black hair, with knee-high brown boots and matching forearm guards. This Auratic mirage moves separately of Corviz, landing beside him as they intercept Pyrhha's sword and shield.

If one were to look closely, they could probably see, if only barely, the knife that Corviz was using previously, embedded perfectly within Jade's right forearm. But from the angle the cameras can get, it just looks like she's holding Pyrhha's sword against her with nothing but her own palm.

"Kardinn, how close are we to Darkus Fervor?" Jade steps back as Pyrhha launches herself into a combat combo of martial arts. Corviz's silver disks fly out of his sleeve and suspend themselves in front of him in a circle, displaying a sheen of red between them that proves ample enough to block a point-blank gunshot from Pyrhha's rifle. When he punches with the opposite hand, the disks follow suit, converging and detonating on impact. Between Jade and Corviz's similarly evasive fighting styles, coupled with well-placed hits between flips and twists, Pyrhha is forced to at least take a defensive stance.

"Just a little bit more," Kardinn grunts out his answer, trapped in an apparently-losing deadlock with Nora, both of their weapons in their elongated forms placed between them. "Oh yeah, here we go." Kardinn's left eye turns a devious shade of purple, with similarly-colored smoke wafting up from it, as his hair turns jet black and he suddenly pushes back against Nora.

More smoke surrounds his body, hardening into a vague scaly black armor. Once that happens, Kardinn virtually backhands Nora away. Smoke and fire swirl around both fighters, before expanding and conjoining into a wall of energy that cuts off Nora and Jaune from Pyrhha. Jade walks through the fall with no damage taken, the edges of her aura flickering with power as it moves around her form.

As Nora begins her hammer combo on the girl, she starts to move in similar fashion to Corviz in order to evade attacks, the red knife deploying from inside of her arm and swinging into Nora's abdomen. According to the screen, in that instance, Nora's Aura dropped a bit—expected—but Jade's Aura also rose: Something that did not occur when Corviz used the same weapon. After the initial shock, Nora and Jaune play a bit more cautiously about the wicked weapon, preferring to keep the ethereal fighter at a distance.

Within the shadow-fire tornado, Pyrhha's polarity starts making itself known as she redirects sword and disk alike, trying to relieve the pressure of her back against the searing wall. Unfortunately, it doesn't last, as the tornado shifts, rising to free them from its confines before condensing and landing on Pyrhha. The assault tears through her Aura fast, dipping her just into the red before dispersing in a shockwave that knocks Jaune and Nora back as well.

"And The Invincible Girl is taken out by a great show of teamwork between Mister Mahdok and Mister Inoshi!" Oobleck tries to hold back his surprise, keeping his announcer's persona at large.

"Jade," Corviz gestures between the girl and himself, and the girl's body shatters into a thousand red crystals before the defined forms melt into a wafting essence and surround Corviz again. The knife returns to his hand. With Pyrhha gone, and the combined powers between the three being put together, Jaune and Nora can barely hold their own. The most that they get was an upward swing from Nora's hammer, which Corviz only seemed to enjoy before his flight brought him back down. The six flying projectiles that Corviz had coming from all angles throughout the fight proved to be too much, especially when they could return to him and form a barrier. Kardinn's control over…whatever he had, also proved to be too strong and dense to be broken if he wanted it to be, capable of acting almost as a second Aura with its flexible uses. A knife slash across Jaune's back ends the match

"And Team KII wins the exposition match!" Port cheers. The crowd erupts in equal surprise and elation at the exciting match. Kardinn scans the crowd, his eyes landing on Ironwood in the stands. Corviz's own eyes drift to a ponytail of white hair, the owner of which delivers a scrutinizing gaze.

/

 **A/N Explanations for what might not be fully delivered through the rest of the story:**

 **Kardinn's weapon is a sword, which is actually two adjacent blades between two half-gears that make up the handguard. The blades can rotate along the inside of their respective-side's gear to turn into a reverse grip, or only one can rotate down and the handle can collapse a little bit in order to create a sword-staff effect. This is where the handle on the back half of the base of each sword comes in handy. If the gear joins the blade in rotating down, then the handle becomes a full circle. Held off-center, the handle can spin within that circle to create a spinning staff, capable of blocking attacks. It also resembles his symbol, if I were to draw it out for you.**

 **Corviz's weapons are Auratic Channeling Disks. Each one is an inch-thick palm-sized metal circle with a red line along the middle of the outside edge and with a red spherical core. Each one is capable of housing small amounts of Aura, as it is made of the same material as Jade's knife. Either through Jade's power or his own, he can move these disks around at will, using the conduits to transmit his Aura far past the normal distance. Normally, these can be used as sensors, but also as explosives, a shield barrier, and even temporary knives. It requires extreme concentration to move quickly, though. He has three on the inside of a right arm guard, and six more stored in a similar fashion on his back, under his jacket. The inner left arm guard holds Jade's knife.**

 **Jade's knife is a dark red metal, with a single piece making up the small handguard and the blade. The way the knife is shaped makes it clear how it's meant to be held, but the tip of the blade seems to be facing backwards because of where the curve of the blade is (the back). While in use by Corviz, it's simply a strong and fast blade. In Jade's hands, it's capable of reaping small amounts of Aura. This blade in contact with Aura can displace whatever it skims through, absorbing it into itself before giving it back to Jade. While incremental, it's still incredibly useful. And, in case you couldn't tell, Jade is…well…very close to Corviz. Literally.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Chapter 3: AKA time for the actual story to pick up. The exposition (match) is done.**

 **Seferos: Presumably their weapons would be made of the same type of alloy that other Hunters' weapons are made of, capable of being surprisingly thin yet strong and housing many mechanisms (such as Yang's gauntlets being able to compress entirely into bracelets, or Qrow's sword being able to expand technically twice while still being reasonably thin). Supposedly, the cores of Corviz's disks are an artificial metal imbued with drained/expended Dust, capable of absorbing his active Aura and (along with some level of mechanical/electronic programming) giving him the ability to manipulate them. The ability for Jade's knife to reap incremental amounts of Aura is mainly due to using the same Dust-imbued metal.**

/

"The Old Order accepted me."

"And this New Order…not so much?"

"I ran. The Old Order was about peace and equality. The new one is about terrorism. Murder."

"You refused to be a part of it?"

"I refused to remain where I didn't belong."

/

"That was so cool!" Ruby gushes as the whole group exits the arena to meet up with their friends and their new friends. "Did you see that? Corviz's weapons are a lot like Penny's!"

"Yeah. I know," Weiss quips.

"It was quite an interesting match. But, it's also exceedingly strange," Blake remarks.

"The way that Jade seemed to appear by splitting from Corviz?"

"The fact that the two of them seem to share quite a few abilities?"

"Yes, all of that. But the way they fight as well: In tandem, flawlessly, with little communication between them. It's exceptional, for two people we found in a barbaric arena."

"Oh, let it go, Blake. They're roommates! I'm sure they have tons of time to practice," Ruby shrugs as they reach the preparation room and find both JNPR and KII unwinding. JNPR occupies two benches, facing each other and discussing their fight: What they did and what could be done better, individually and as a team. Corviz seems content to hang from one of the ceiling lights, with Jade leaning against a locker below him. Kardinn's wiping off his blade before he shrugs and puts it into his assigned locker.

"That was an amazing fight, everybody!" Ruby greets. Corviz, noticing the intruders, drops from the ceiling, landing harmlessly next to Jade with his arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks, kiddo," he smirks. Kardinn gives a similar affirmation, shaking his dirty-blonde hair out of his eyes.

"I guess this means you're all Beacon students now. Congratulations," Weiss speaks up, although an edge to her voice remains, either unperceived or disregarded by team KII.

"Yeah. It should be fun, to say the least," Kardinn remarks.

"Maybe we'll have room so that I can actually get my own bed," Jade theorizes, her hand coming to rest on Corviz's back.

"Right, like you're going to use it," he rolls his eyes before turning to Ruby. "What's the plan for the time being?"

"Well, we'd like to brief Kardinn on the situation we talked about before. You're welcome to join, since you all seem attached at the hip," Blake answers. At this point JNPR had stopped talking, instead following the conversation behind them.

"Oh, I'm more of the crime-creating type than the crime-solving type," Corviz shrugs. "But, if Kardinn's going to be investigating anything, I need to be there." He gives an exasperated sigh. "It's…quite the trip the first time you see it."

"Let's go then," Weiss turns and leaves, the silent air indicating that they're meant to follow. With another shrug, they all do. Jade disappears again, the red haze surrounding Corviz flaring for a moment before disappearing. While Ruby and Blake go through the story with Kardinn, Weiss keeps Corviz and Jade outside. Well, Corviz, anyway. While Weiss isn't looking, the red haze around Corviz disappears through his feet, slipping past Weiss and under the door.

"How did you acquire that technology?" she questions, gesturing to his arm.

"Excuse me?"

"The Auratic Conduit technology. I saw it being worked on once between my father and General Ironwood, but they never perfected it to the level you have it."

"Ironwood," Corviz's lip involuntarily curls up before settling into neutrality. "What if I told you it's actually mine?"

"Yeah, right."

"Made it on my own, through careful precision and experimentation. Chemistry and mechanics combined. If you're accusing me of stealing, then you're wasting your time. If I stole it, then don't you think I would've been doing more with such an offense than hiding out in The Pit?"

"I guess that makes sense. But I'm watching you," Weiss leans in with a pointed finger.

"Right," the fighter drags out the word, "Let's go talk to your friend about why she punched a man in the leg."

"Wha—how did you?"

"A mix of this thing called the news, and the fact that Jade can hear a lot more than you give her credit for," Corviz opens the door to the room, walking in to see Kardinn breathing in meditation. "How far back are you going?"

"Approximately four days," he answers, not opening his eyes. "Although, if Yang thinks hard enough on the subject, it should be a lot easier than expected to discern the truth."

"Normally your subjects try to avoid thinking about it."

"Well normally my subjects know they're guilty."

"Jade and I will pull you out if you get too…enthralled in there again." Corviz points to his temple.

"I know. Let's get started then." Kardinn gingerly picks up Yang's Ember Cecelia, in their dormant form on the desk. Yang watches with anticipation, as do the others. Kardinn runs his hand over the surface of the right-hand one.

 _Confusion. Joy. Fear. Fear causes her to spin around, and causes the gauntlet to collide with a leg. Not spite, or anger. However, nothing in the fleeting images tells him of any actual instigation. Just that there's a sudden spike of adrenaline as she turns with that devastating punch. He can almost feel the motion through the vision._

Kardinn opens his eyes and puts the right-hand gauntlet down. On the left-hand gauntlet he finds nothing. He sighs.

"What were you so scared of, Miss Xiao-Long?" he glances at the blonde sitting on the bed. Everyone seems surprised by this.

"I saw him attack me," she answers.

"We'll see." He takes a few steps towards her, shaking his right hand loose. "Corviz, keep everything in mind."

"Right," the fighter nods.

"What are you going to do?" Blake questions.

"My thing," Kardinn shrugs as a faint white glow envelops his right hand. He places his index and middle finger on Yang's forehead, his thumb resting on the point between her eyebrows. The glow spreads, under her skin. Both of their eyes become glassy and blank, as Kardinn's eyes glow blue. Yang's jaw drops, hanging loose as she follows him into her own mind. All he sees only confirm what the gauntlet and what the news told him: She turned and punched Mercury in the leg.

 _Joy. Fear. A halt, imperceptible within the Gauntlet's memory but barely noticeable in Yang's. A lapse of blurry information, for only a fraction of a second. Kardinn slows down the memory, catching it again. A point where her forward motion stops at the ball of her foot and then she turns with a fist raised. Strange. He delves deeper into the Histoire, trying to drag out the memory. Only to be thrown back out._

"What," he narrows his eyes as he pulls his hand away from Yang. A second later he repeats the motion of connection, his eyes glowing again.

 _Shaky. Blurry. The slightest noise out of place. The sound of Yang's own gasp, and entire sentences, contained in that fraction of a second. "There won't…" Something. But what?_

The memory rejects him again, and again he goes back in.

 _An influence. Green. Something that doesn't belong. Again. A lack of sensation. A turn, but no air resistance. Flash. A turn with resistance and adrenaline. Flash. Nothing. He's rejected again._

"Strange," Kardinn shakes his hand loose before placing it on her forehead. Right before the glow starts again, Corviz's hand grabs his shoulder.

"Kardinn. Jade says the girl's Aura's getting pretty low. Why don't we continue again in a day or two?" He orders.

"Did you get everything?"

"A strange fraction of a second where everything goes blank. Blah blah, something about a lack of sensation. The color green. Things that were never said or seen, according to reports and the information from the gauntlet," Jade recaps, reappearing in a blank space in the room.

"Good. That's a good starting point," Kardinn nods, stumbling with his first step. "We should prepare for tomorrow."

"Ah, yes. Classes," Jade sighs. "Fun."

"It would be good for us to learn about the world, Jade," Corviz rolls his eyes. After working out some things, Team RWBY shows Corviz, Kardinn, and Jade to their room.

/

"I saw him today," Kardinn sighs.

"You did?" Corviz settles into a sitting position on the bed, across from his friend.

"In the stands. He never saw my powers at work, and he thought your cohabitation failed, so he might not connect the dots right away, but he at least suspects us." The blonde keeps his clasped hands in front of his lips and his elbows propped on his knees, lost in thought.

"He's here as the head of security for the Vytal Festival. Something else is clearly going on, though. The…energy of the space," Jade leans into Corviz's shoulder.

"I wonder if they know about his past," Corviz starts.

"Corviz, let it go. I'd rather not start a civil war."

"Fine. I was hoping that he would know where your Guardian of the Grave and Bearer of Life went." The fighter crosses his arms.

"Ironwood abandoned the project. I will find my brothers eventually." A knock on the door.

"Yes?" Jade cracks it open and sticks her head through the opening.

"Hey! The Headmaster told us to deliver your uniforms and Scrolls for tomorrow," Jaune gestures to him and the rest of his team. "Plus we thought it'd be nice to officially meet, rather than be all business-y like we were in the Pit."

"Sure," Jade opens the door all the way before returning to her position beside Corviz. JNPR places the uniforms on the large desk in the back of the room, by the window, before handing each of KII a box. The Scrolls.

"What this thing?" Jade holds hers up to the light, confused by the palm-sized device.

"I don't know," Corviz experimentally taps the center button, flinching and tossing it aside when it expands suddenly and boots up. "Oh."

"They're communication devices," Pyrhha explains. "Data recorders. Auratic readout machines. GPS. Tracking. Word-processing. An all-in-one device."

"Ah. Fun," Corviz bends down and picks his back up.

"I'm surprised you've never heard of them," Nora remarks. "They're just so awesome! Kinda like you guys."

"We lived in the Outlands. What did you expect?" Kardinn shrugs.

"We learned the intricacies of being able to gauge our own Auras, and each other's, a while back, so I guess it was never necessary," Corviz shrugs.

"These do seem useful, though," Jade taps a few buttons on hers before handing it to Corviz. The device disappears up his sleeve.

"Heyyy," Nora starts again. "Ren does the same thing with his stuff!" The redhead gestures to her friend.

"Yeah?" Corviz raises an eyebrow. Ren nods. "It's just the most convenient thing for my weapon choice."

"For me as well," Ren flicks his wrist and produces one half of Stormflower. One Auratic disk pops out of Corviz's right sleeve. The two almost wordlessly toss the weapons across the space between them, from the bed to the center of the room, and vice versa. Corviz messes with the Stormflower, spinning it quickly around one finger before releasing it and snapping his hand so that the pistol is pointed straight. A flick and the green weapon disappears into his arm. Another one, and it reappears. Ren's manipulation of the single Auratic disk includes letting it float in the air, generating pink blades out the sides of the disk, and temporarily producing an Auratic barrier from the device. He, too, tests its ability to disappear up a sleeve before nodding in approval. The two trade back.

"So, do you all wanna get dinner, or something?" Jade questions after hearing the Valkyrie's stomach rumble.

"That would be grand," Pyrhha responds. High fives and handshakes are passed around, with Kardinn leaving a strange gaze to each of team JNPR when they're not looking.

"Quite an interesting set of people," he informs Corviz. "An honorable fake, two orphans, and a Champion who wishes she wasn't."

"There's more…isn't there?" Jade remarks after seeing Kardinn's conflicted expression.

"That Pyrhha girl…she met Ironwood…and the results are troubling her."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Chapter 4 is here!**

/

"Tell me what happened at Beacon."

"We did what we had to."

"Most people would say that you're murderers."

"Most. Some understand what needs to be done."

"And why did it need to be done?"

"Because if he didn't do what he did, then _she_ would have. And that would have been even worse than it is now."

/

"That's the match," Goodwitch declares Jade the victor. She bows swiftly, her knife disappearing into her arm as she makes her way back into the comfort of Corviz's arm, each of them almost instantly relaxing at the touch of the other. Dove grunts as he picks himself back up and returns to his team. The swift movements and incremental Aura-reaping that Jade is capable of are too much if one doesn't focus. Her ability to deconstruct and reform her body at will doesn't help, either. While Combat Studies in particular had been halted in lieu of the Vytal Festival and Tournament, volunteers could still fight, as well as use the training rooms in the school.

"You two are so adorable!" Ruby remarks from behind them.

"Psh," Jade rolls her eyes. Corviz has a similar response. While the two are almost inseparable, working normally as a single unit, they still tend to deny the obvious.

"Yang says she's up to dealing with Kardinn's mind-meld again," the Reaper informs them, glancing briefly at Kardinn.

"When classes are over," Kardinn decides. "Corviz is up." He inclines his head towards the board, where Glynda had pulled up Corviz's portrait alongside some visiting student. With the whole transfer ordeal, Team KII had been pushed hard to excel and recover their nonexistent grades. That included combat marks, and also a need for each student to prove themselves individually. Corviz leaves Jade's knife and one disk behind in his seat. Jade slips the disk into her pocket as the knife melds into her arm, not that anyone but Kardinn notices.

"Standard tournament rules," Glynda begins, dropping the usual spiel before both fighters are let loose. Almost instantly, although slower than the exposition match, Corviz dashes straight forward, only subverting his path at the last second by leaping to the side to avoid the surprise draw of his opponent's weapon, followed by a quick burst of fire from his feet mid-air to instantly bounce back on course with a spinning back-kick. The opponent takes the hit, rotating with the transferred momentum before recovering and leaping back an incredible distance.

In the pause, Corviz registers the hefty laser rifle carried by his opponent. He twists hard to avoid a concussive shot that would've nailed him in the chest, simultaneously dropping a disk into his palm and throwing it. Two more fall out of the back of his jacket before he advances. As he charges, another shot in front of him kicks dust and smoke up, obscuring his visions as his disks continue to use his Aura to try and feel out his opponent. Then, from the audience's perspective, Corviz seems to surrender as his disks hover briefly before collapsing. Then, faintly, they can see what he sees.

His opponent, cloned, surrounding him with rifle aimed true. The sounds of twenty powerful plasma rifles charging simultaneously. One of the disks that had fallen to the ground from Corviz's lack of concentration shudders, before three more eject from his jacket and join the three in the field, all returning to him as he turns and hunches over. The red glow from each one expands into a shield covering one half of his body. On pure guesswork, the real one's gunshot is blocked. At least, that's what the Aura read-out says. Corviz seems to react as if he was shot those extra ten times in the back, collapsing. When he looks up, his opponent is shifting, his image jumping around like a broken television.

Left. Right. No. Corviz tries to track his opponent before deciding on the surest course of action. He stands, and two of his disks disappear up his sleeve as the other four surround his forearm. He raises it as well as the temperature, slamming his fist into the ground. Assisted by the power in the disks, the shockwave of fire spreads throughout the small arena, catching his opponent in the blast and giving him a temporary reprieve.

Until the visions start to bombard him again, his opponent taking the opportunity to pepper him with shots as the illusions change from the present to pulling images from his past. The Pit. Groups of barbarians cheering the haggard teen on as he takes on Grimm after Grimm. A rally. Hundreds of men and women with white masks adorned over their faces, yelling and shaking signs. At a building. Then at him. He doesn't miss the man at the forefront, with spiked red hair and a strange sword in his hand.

Corviz's mental gymnastics finally shatter with the glimpse of Ironwood. Then Jade. Dead. A spark. Something he doesn't quite remember happening. Despite his Aura readout being cast in a dark orange color, his power spikes. His Aura rises incrementally. The pressure of the room increases steadily as Corviz's panicked dodging of imaginary enemies suddenly ceases. A thin sheen of some black substance protrudes from his coat, surrounding him in a smoky haze. Shadows seem to drip off him like water after getting out of a pool, hissing into wisps of steam as they make contact with the ground. A growl. If one were close enough, they could probably hear his mumbling. "Death to Ironwood. He butchered us. Twisted us. He ends now."

The fighter opens his eyes, and no one can ignore the new bright yellow glow to them as two semi-solid tendrils of shadow erupt from his back, curling forward and trembling as if unsure of their existence. The shadows calm, not floating past a few inches away from Corviz's body. In the confusion of the spectacle, no one noticed Jade's pleading scream of "No!" or how her body violently shook and fizzed out like a dying television before she vanished, knife and disk remaining in her seat.

The sniper-illusionist stands no chance as Corviz lunges into combat again, the shadows around him bolstering his power and speed. Pure rage driving his eyes to blindness that even illusions and invasions of the mind cannot trick. Quite violently, he descends on the sniper, using pure force to knock the Aura out of him before lifting him in one hand. When he lets go, one of the tendrils on his back shoots forward, spreading like a web and latching onto the body before slamming it into the wall. Two wisps of shadow curl around the sniper's neck, draining his Aura further before the tendril whips around, casually tossing the opponent into the wall on the opposite end of the arena. But he's not out. He bounces off, travelling back so that he's halfway to the middle of the arena.

Corviz stalks over, eventually standing over the shuddering frame. From his left hand, a blood-red sword starts to eject itself. Straight from the flesh, dripping in the slightest amount of shredded flesh and blood. From his actions, it doesn't seem to affect Corviz at all. Once the whole sword, with a curved semi-hook tip and a pointed diamond crossguard, is formed, he flourishes it before raising it high. Right before he might drop it, with a shout of "Ironwood!" the sniper shakes his head, holding his hands in front of him and shouting "I surrender!"

The end-of-the-match buzzer sounds. The pressure of the room is suddenly released as the shadows around Corviz disappear into his body. His eyes roll into the back of his head as he collapses onto the ground. The bloodsword shatters on impact with the ground, each fragmented crystal turning back into pure liquid before seeping into the smallest incision on his palm. Unconscious. Despite the confusion through the stands, Glynda calls the match. The sniper's body is perfectly fine, his Aura still present enough. Corviz, on the other hand, was suddenly drained to almost nothing. Jade, with a relieved yet fearful expression adorned on her features, reappears beside her friend, lifting his head into her hands. If she were capable of really crying, then she'd be doing that now. Kardinn, along with teams RWBY and JNPR join her quickly, jumping over the railing.

"Get him to the infirmary," Kardinn orders, helping Pyrhha and Ren lift the unconscious fighter.

/

 _Blood. Pain. Every day is a new torture. Poking, prodding. Every day those scientists would come in, and every week a tall man in short black hair and white military garb would come in. He could see them through the window. He could feel the mixing of power in his body. The volatile combination of energy that threatened to tear him apart in a singular instant. Black pulses through his veins, visible for an instant before disappearing back under his skin. Could he even move? Every motion brought great pain. Each bone taken apart and put back together. Flesh torn and re-sewn._

 _Every action endorsed by him. For progress. Auratic experiments. Sometimes if he focuses, he can see wisps of red and white smoke floating from his mouth, especially after another trial of surgeries and experiments. They'd make him better, they said. He wouldn't suffer anymore, they said. His only salvation was a girl his own age, with long black hair tied into a loose ponytail, who, in a similar state as he, would be the one who pulled him in to finally join the other group of broken children in the courtyard. And still, one man would watch from above, with hands clasped behind his back as he chats, stiff, with someone next to him._

"Bastard!" Corviz awakes with a start, jerking into an upright position, fire gathering in one hand and then being lobbed forward. It collides with the wall, a weak Molotov cocktail at best. The embers bounce off the drywall and then cease. Breath hot and heavy, he swivels at sensing a foreign Aura. Ruby, if he remembers correctly.

"Woah, hey," she gets to her feet, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You gave us all quite a scare. Went psycho during a combat scrimmage."

"Did I?" he glances at his hand. A random cut, two inches wide, on his palm. He suddenly clutches his head with a gasp of pain, his free hand curling up into a tense fist. A flash of a vision. This time, Kardinn. Fingers held to his forehead. Then darkness again. "What did he do…?"

"I think he might've brought up some bad memories. Your opponent's semblance let him get inside your mind, and he started to cast illusions based on them."

"No…Kardinn," Corviz suddenly pushes himself out of bed, glad that he still had his shirt and pants on. He grabs his gear from the nightstand: A left and right forearm guard, as well as the triple-disk-dispenser that lies flush with his back. He clips the collar-wrap around his shoulders, making sure that it's solidly in place, with the center one pointed straight up, and the other two aimed downwards at an angle, before tossing his jacket over the mechanisms and leaving. He enters his team room.

"Oh, hey, Corviz. While you were out, I managed to get through that mental block in the Xiao-Long girl. It turns out that someone altered her perception," Kardinn greets, continuing to run through game footage and student rosters for…something.

"I don't particularly care. I care more about how _you_ altered _my_ perception," the fighter accuses.

"Excuse me?" Kardinn finally turns to look at his roommate.

"We didn't meet in The Pit, after a 'long time separated by tragedy.' You were there the whole time, weren't you?" Corviz stalks closer to his friend, glaring down at him with brown eyes.

"Corviz…"

"What happened? Tell me. What did you do?"

"Corviz!" Kardinn stands up, interrupting the fighter's line of questioning and forcing him to be given some space, lest he be uppercut by Kardinn's shoulder. A long sigh. "Look. Ironwood destroyed you. You could barely move. I fixed it. End of story."

"There's more to it than that. You _erased_ my damn memory! Changed it around with your Histoire," Corviz turns and paces the center of the room, tossing his hand up in exasperation. "Exactly which experiment was I to Ironwood?"

"I don't know what you mean—"

"Jade wasn't dead and transferred into me. I saw her. Dead. With my own eyes. _Not_ in a lab."

"Well, I…It's a long story."

"I have time." Kardinn starts to pace the room as well, running his hands through his hair.

"You remember how I told you that Ironwood tried to recreate the powers of Origin in many of his Auratic experiments, and after we escaped we perfected it so that we could stay stable and survive?"

"Yes."

"That I'm the Devourer of Darkness, and that over time I lost the Star of Night, and that the Guardian of the Grave and the Bearer of Life disappeared?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Those were the _only_ four which really survived. You _are_ the Guardian of the Grave, Corviz. It tore at you so bad that your power almost overtook you. If I _didn't_ do what I did, then you would be dead, and I'd be alone." Corviz's eyes bulge at this revelation. Months lost to a necessary cause. Immediately the shroud of anger covers it, though.

"So you locked my memory away for some selfishness such as monophobia? I don't care what you think, that's twisted. You _lied_." Corviz's hand becomes enveloped in darkness as he grabs Kardinn by the collar and lifts him up against the wall.

"I did it to protect you!" Kardinn's voice breaks, although not from the pressure against his chest.

"I don't need any _protection_ ," he growls. Liquid shadows rise from his back and lash out, grabbing the blonde by the coat before whipping him into—and through—the opposite wall. "I fought for years for the Fang, I think I can handle myself. We're done." With that, he starts to leave, slamming the door behind him. In the room Kardinn had just been thrown to, he slowly picks himself up.

"But can you handle your other self?" he grumbles, getting to his feet and dusting his coat off. The defeat in his eyes is as clear as can be. Just as he moves to go through the door of the room he's landed in, a calloused yet smooth hand grips his sleeve.

"Just let it go for now. Sometimes it's best to let them blow off some steam," Yang requests. Kardinn jerks his sleeve out of her grip, stalking back through the hole in the wall with a "Fine," and not acknowledging the mix of scared, confused, and concerned looks from the rest of Team RWBY.


End file.
